JEDDAH: Amid international calls for dialogue to find a solution to the Qatari diplomatic crisis, Doha Monday expressed readiness to engage in talks positively.
“Qatar is willing to sit and negotiate about whatever is related to Gulf security,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani told reporters during a visit to Paris.
He called for “dialogue based on clear foundations” over accusations that Qatar supports extremist groups.
“Kuwait’s foreign minister is making efforts to mediate between our countries. We support this effort and our choice is resolve this through dialogue,” Sheikh Mohammed said after meeting his French counterpart.
Kuwait’s emir cautioned that the dispute could lead to “undesirable consequences,” in comments carried by state news agency KUNA.
“It is difficult for us, the generation that built the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 37 years ago, to see these disagreements between its members, which may lead to undesirable consequences,” said Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
“I personally lived through the first building blocks of this council nearly four decades ago, so it is not easy for someone like me as a leader to stand silent without doing everything I can to bring brothers back together.”
Oman welcomed a decision by Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain to give special consideration to families with Qatari spouses and children.
Oman said the hotlines to help the mixed families would aid “humanitarian cases of families shared between them and Qatar.”
In London, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he would meet this week with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, and called for calm.
“I have urged all sides to refrain from any further escalation and to engage in mediation efforts,” he said. He called on Qatar to take seriously its neighbors’ concerns and to do more to address the issue of Doha’s support to extremist groups.
Meanwhile, Eritrea has expressed support for Saudi Arabia and its allies after they cut ties with Qatar.
The Eritrean Information Ministry’s statement said the initiative by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE “is not confined to Qatar alone as the potential of Qatar is very limited,” but is “one initiative among many in the right direction that envisages full realization of regional security and stability.”
— With input from AP, AFP,Reuters
Qatar ready for talks to end crisis
Qatar ready for talks to end crisis
